Executive Control in Analogical Mapping: Two Facets

In recent studies, analogy-making has been shown to depend on the ability to resist interference within working memory (WM). Less evidence refers to the other facets of executive control (EC), especially to the goal-directed selection of relational information. In this study, the load on two above mentioned EC functions and on WM capacity was manipulated in a single picture mapping task. Next to replicating the previous findings on the importance of dealing with distracter interference within WM, the current results demonstrate that the efficiency of relational mapping also depends on the goal-directed search for WM input, and that these two EC functions may be dissociable in mapping. Moreover, it was found that the impact of distraction can be linked to whether relations, in which distracters occur, have not exceeded WM capacity.